A lone man stands on a ridge above the grey ruins of Limbo, with distant gates and a citadel lost in mist.
Concept art · Limbo

An Iron Daydream Works game · In development

AVERNWAKE

The dead descend quietly. The living leave a wake.

Some journeys shouldn't be possible.

A story-driven third-person action-adventure RPG about a living man descending through seven infernal realms to recover the person he loves.

Follow Development Read the premise

The impossible descent

He is alive. The place he is entering was not made for the living.

When the woman he loves is taken beyond the boundary of death, Elias Ward follows—descending through seven infernal realms and leaving behind a disturbance that should be impossible.

An Avernwake.

But getting Helena back is only the beginning of the question.

How much of yourself can you sacrifice before the person who returns is no longer the person who left?

Who it's about

A marriage, a descent, and a guide who can't do it for him

  • The living man

    Elias Ward

    He isn't descending because prophecy chose him. He's going because someone he loves was taken, and accepting that loss would be easier than what he's chosen to do instead.

  • The one he follows

    Helena Ward

    Affectionate, intelligent and independent, with her own judgment and her own will. She is the reason Elias crosses the threshold, and she is nobody's prize.

  • The guide

    Archangel Michael

    He can awaken something inside Elias. He cannot make Elias's hands know what they've never learned.

Character designs are still in progress, so we're introducing them in words first.

  1. Descend
  2. Fight
  3. Choose
  4. Sacrifice
  5. Redeem

A story about what you're willing to become.

The world

Seven realms. Seven identities. One descent.

AVERNWAKE is being built around seven major infernal realms, each with its own architecture, inhabitants, dangers, rules and emotional purpose. No endless copy-and-paste corridors. No realm exists merely to increase the hour count.

  1. A lone man stands among grey ruins and mist, with distant gates and a citadel on the horizon.
    Concept art

    I

    Limbo

    Abandonment

    A grey threshold of ruins and testimony, where everything turns on the right to pass.

    Material
    Weathered stone and ash
    Movement
    Mist rising against gravity
  2. A cloaked man stands at the edge of a lamplit city of wet stone arcades, beside a small, warmly lit house that doesn't belong there.
    Concept art

    II

    Hunger

    Longing

    A lamplit city of false comforts, where longing is easy to feed and impossible to satisfy.

    Material
    Wet stone and lamplight
    Movement
    Lantern smoke drifting low
  3. A man stands on a rotting pier above black water crowded with moored boats and lanterns, beneath a vast walled harbor.
    Concept art

    III

    Possession

    Temptation

    A harbor of bargains and debts, where the first question is always who profits.

    Material
    Black water and moored hulls
    Movement
    A slow, heavy tide
  4. A man looks over a burning field of open tombs toward the red-lit walls of a fortified city.
    Concept art

    IV

    Dis

    Suspicion

    A walled city of courts and open tombs, where even the law preserves its own lies.

    Material
    Iron walls and ember light
    Movement
    Fire breathing from open tombs
  5. A small figure stands at the shore of a glowing red river, below a burning city and blackened trees.
    Concept art

    V

    Violence

    Defiance

    A war without end, where every liberation has a cost and command carries all of it.

    Material
    Red rivers and scorched iron
    Movement
    Ash carried on a hot wind
  6. A man stands at the rim of vast terraced pits filled with fog, with a gilded city far behind.
    Concept art

    VI

    Fraud

    Doubt

    Terraces, pits and false gold, where nothing is what it shows and watching closely is how you survive.

    Material
    Fog-stained stone and false gold
    Movement
    Fog pouring into the pits
  7. A lone figure stands on cracked black ice beside a vast fissure lit violet-white from below, with pale bodies frozen beneath the surface.
    Concept art

    VII

    Treachery

    Trust

    A frozen silence at the bottom of everything, where no one gets through alone.

    Material
    Black ice
    Movement
    Nothing moves

Combat

The weapon isn't the power.

Archangel Michael can awaken something inside Elias. He cannot make Elias's hands know what they've never learned. An early conduit blade lets Elias survive long enough to begin changing. Over the journey, weapon mastery, holy power and direct unarmed channeling develop together.

  1. Stage I

    Conduit blade

    A Heaven-forged blade that channels power Elias can't yet carry himself. Early on, he needs it.

  2. Stage II

    Direct channeling

    As Elias changes, holy power begins to answer him without the blade.

  3. Stage III

    Earned mastery

    Blade, fists and knuckles become real choices, each with its own strengths. Power received is not the same thing as power earned.

Fast. Physical. Readable.

Combat is being built toward readable third-person action where progression is something you feel in your hands, not just a larger number on a stat screen. Gameplay footage will appear here when it's real. We won't show concept art as gameplay.

Choice

The ending begins before the ending.

Player decisions alter routes, relationships and consequences across the journey. Three final outcomes are established, but AVERNWAKE is not designed around a last-minute “choose your ending” button.

The journey should help create the ending you reach.

Three outcomes. We're not showing them.

If we only make the big moments big, eventually none of them are big anymore. The quiet parts are what give the loud parts somewhere to land.

Daniel Tigerina, Founder & Creative Director

Love · Perseverance · Temptation · Grief · Sacrifice · Agency · Accepting help

Development · October 2026

Where AVERNWAKE stands

We update this as milestones move. Nothing here is a release date.

All development updates

  1. Drafted

    Story, world and cast

    Seven realms, the cast and three established endings are written in draft. Drafts keep changing as production teaches us.

  2. Prototyping

    Combat in Unity

    Testing movement, timing, reach and the conduit blade. When we show it, it will be labeled prototype footage.

  3. Next

    First playable slice

    15–25 minutes of early Limbo, built to prove story, combat and atmosphere together. Defined, not built yet.

  4. Later

    Gameplay trailer and Steam page

    Real screenshots, a trailer and a store page come after the slice, once gameplay can back them up.

  5. Later

    Playtests

    Small, structured playtests once the slice is stable. We'll announce them here first.

Devlogs

Come watch us build it.

Questions

What we can tell you today

Developer
Iron Daydream Works
Genre
Story-driven third-person action-adventure RPG
Engine
Unity
Status
In development
When does AVERNWAKE come out?

There's no release date yet. We'll announce one when we're confident we can keep it.

What platforms is it for?

Platforms haven't been formally announced yet. We're developing AVERNWAKE with PC and consoles in mind.

Can I play it yet?

Not yet. The next milestone is a first playable slice: 15 to 25 minutes of early Limbo. When it's stable enough for playtests, we'll say so on the development page.

Is it multiplayer?

No. AVERNWAKE is a single-player, story-driven game.

How long will it be?

We're not putting a number on it yet. Our rule is meaning over length: nothing stays in the game just to make the playtime bigger.

Is the art on this site what the game looks like?

Not yet. Every image is labeled. Right now that means concept art: early visual development, made with AI-assisted tools, that shows the mood we're aiming for. In-engine work will replace it as it becomes real.

Who's making it?

Iron Daydream Works, an independent studio founded by Daniel Tigerina.

Follow the journey

Watch the world become real.

Every devlog, update and milestone lands on the development page first.

Follow Development Contact the Studio